Killer Opportunity for Whale Watchers

Whale watchers might have had to wait for January’s rains to stop before heading to sea to watch their favorite animals, but it has been worth the wait.

Throughout much of February, California gray whales, whose annual migration from the Bering Sea to Baja California and back makes whale-watching seasons possible, have been upstaged by killer whales, or orcas .

The smaller, sleeker whales have invaded Southland waters. Pods of 80 or more killer whales have been surfacing from Orange County to Malibu for the last two weeks.

The exact reason is unknown, although some experts theorize that the mammals are taking advantage of an abundance of small fish and sea lions off the coast.

In any event, the predatory whales, stars of aquatic parks and subjects of documentaries and feature films, have been putting on a quite a show.

“They’ve breached, they’ve lob-tailed (splashing the surface with their tails), and the females have brought their calves right up to the boats,” said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a high school marine science teacher and director of the gray whale census project for the American Cetacean Society. “The killer whales are really curious. Some are going from boat to boat, people-watching while we just sit there.”

Schulman-Janiger is taking advantage of the unusual presence of killer whales to photograph and catalogue--using distinct individual fin shapes and markings--as many as possible in the effort to learn more about the black-and-white mammals.

Killer whales are not migratory and, much like great white sharks, little is known about them--where they go or how many of them there are.

“This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity,” she said, adding that anyone who has photographed the whales should contact her at (310) 519-8963 if they want to share their pictures. “Only by getting the pictures can we determine who they are and where they’ve been.”

One thing known about killer whales is they are among the earth’s most highly intelligent and powerful creatures.

It may or may not be a coincidence that when killer whales are around, gray whales usually are not. Killer whales sometimes prey on gray whale calves and have been known to attack full-grown female gray whales to get to their offspring. Fortunately for swimmers and surfers, killer whales in the wild have never been known to attack humans.

As for the gray whales, which have spent much of the winter calving in Baja California’s warm-water lagoons, many are heading home, no doubt keeping a watchful eye as they pass through Southern California.

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Add whales: Gray whales and killer whales--and any other whales that happen by--will have their day in the sun March 4. The “Whale of a Day,” as the annual event is called, will take place at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center on the Palos Verdes peninsula.

Children’s activities, as well as whale-watching from the South Bay promontory, are scheduled. Schulman-Janiger said that in previous years people have seen as few as 15 and as many as 100 whales. If the sky is as clear as it has been, and if the orcas are still around, it could be a killer day. For details on the event, call (310) 377-5370.

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Whether it’s the weather or just a fluke is anyone’s guess, but fishing is unseasonably hot in the Santa Monica Bay.

Anglers on private boats and commercial sport fishers have been filling their sacks with sand bass and halibut--two species that usually wait until spring to grace the Southland.

“It’s been busy as hell down here the last few days,” said Roger Teoli, a spokesman for Redondo Sportfishing. “We’ve been carrying 40-plus people on our boats.”

The Redondo fleet, fishing mostly the sandy bottom off Torrance Beach, has weighed in a dozen fish weighing more than 30 pounds in the past several days.

“We had a 41-pounder on Saturday on the City of Redondo and had a 39 1/2-pounder last Wednesday on the Redondo Special,” Teoli said. Both boats have also posted daily counts of sand bass in the 100s.

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Scott Browlie of Apple Valley wasn’t disappointed when he had his record broken for largemouth bass last week at Lake Perris. He is the one who broke it--twice.

After catching a 14 1/2-pound bass to break the record by a few ounces, Browlie proceeded to land bass of 15 1/2 and 16 1/2 pounds. “And that wasn’t good enough for him,” said Charlie Lamkin, concession manager at the Riverside County reservoir. “He came back two days later and caught an 11 3/4-pounder and a 12 3/4-pounder.”